I found a Mind Sports slide presentation which says the following: Go originated in South-East Asia, and the majority of Go players and fans will be found in that area. Private initiative characterises the organisation of Go which explains the strong ties with the media and business. GO is well recognized by Asian people & institutions In China, the government strongly supports the organisation and promotion of Go. In Japan Go is recognised as an instrument contributing to key elements of human life, such as young people’s education, leisure activities, mental care for the aged, promotion of culture. In Korea the demand for Go is rising rapidly. A number of Korean youngsters are the top players in the world. They are role models for the Korean youth. In many schools Go is part of the curriculum. Many Go teachers and promoters have travelled around the world and popularised the game of Go. Nowadays, Go is heavily broadcast in Asia: 15 Chinese television networks. Go broke record of TV viewers on CCTV. 3 Korean TV channels are dedicated solely to GO. Japan’s National Station (NHK) organises a tournament running throughout the year which is broadcast for two hours every Sunday, attracting a very large audience.
Mind Sports claims there are 60 million Go players and 300 million chess players worldwide. The usgo.org site claims that there are 100 million go players worldwide. I have been told by a Korean professional that the popularity of Baduk in Korea is rising quite rapidly. Terry McIntyre <terrymcint...@yahoo.com> -- Libertarians Do It With Consent! _______________________________________________ computer-go mailing list computer-go@computer-go.org http://www.computer-go.org/mailman/listinfo/computer-go/